Laundry method and device



P 30, 1941- H. F. BAXTER ET AL 2,257,323

LAUNDRY METHOD AND DEVICE Filed Dec. 20, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 V a Robert 123a ,tter

ital 0J8: 5

S p 30; 1941. H. F. BAxTERET-AL 7 2 257,323.

LAUNDRY METHOD AND DEVICE Filed D80. 20, 1959 5 Shee s-Sheet 3 JQZM w 2 1 Patented Sept. 30, 1941 LAUNDRY METHOD AND DEVICE Howard F. Baxter, Grand Rapids, Mich., and Robert T. Baxter, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Baxter Laundries Corporation, Grand Rapids, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application December 20, 1939, Serial No. 310,110

8 Claims.

The present invention relates to laundry methods and devices and more particularly to methods and devices for segregating individual customer laundry orders from a number of other individual customer orders during the finishing processes of successive laundry orders. The present application is a continuation-in-part of our co-pending application, Serial No. 272,390, filed May 8, 1939.

, Great losses are frequently sustained by laundries in making restitution for garments or other articles which inadvertently become mixed in with the wrong order. In addition to such monetary losses, the laundry is liable to loss of patronage, reputation and good will. It is therefore of utmostimportance that the articles belonging to one customer be kept segregated from those helonging to other customers. 1

A A number of identification methods have been employed in the past for keeping the orders thus segregated. For example, all of the articles belonging to one customer have been marked with a. distinctive combination of letters and/or numbers in indelible ink. The disadvantages of this and similar methods lie in the facts that the tion with certain known washing methods, preeludes the possibility of mixing articles from one order with those of another order and which method likewise eliminates the necessity of individually marking the articles themselves; to provide such a method which virtually eliminates human forgetfulness and carelessness as factors to be reckoned with in keeping each order segregated; to provide such a method which results in speeding up the finishing and packaging of laundry; to provide such a method which mini.- mizes handling of the finished articles; and, to provide such a method which is simple and economical.

The invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a diagram of a convenient working arrangement for presses and other devices such as are used in a laundry in the finishing and packaging operations of laundry orders;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a damp-box and an identification tag associated therewith, said identification tag lined to represent the color yellow; 7

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on line 88 of Figure 4;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary perspective view similar to Figure 4 but showing other articles associated with the receptacle;

Figure 10 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of a swing lever and identification tags associated with one of the compartments of the receptacle;

Figure 11 is a front elevational view of the same;

Figure 12 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of a swing lever and identification tags associated with another of the compart ments of the receptacle;

Figure 13 is a front elevational view of the same; and 1 Figure 14 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the damp-box.

Referring to these drawings wherein like parts of the devices used are designated by the same numerals in the several views, and referring first to Figure 1 which diagrammatically shows a convenient working arrangement for presses and the like used in the finishing and packaging operations of a laundry, incoming trucks l0 supply work from the washing unit to the finishing unit. Inasmuch as the present invention does not pertain to the washing phase of an order, it will suffice to mention that each customer order is washed independently of other orders and preferably in a confining net which is dumped into a truck It! for delivery to the finishing unit. Hence, in the washing operation, there is little or no likelihood that the several orders will become mixed.

The finishing unit here illustrated is in many respects a double unit, there being two machinepress operators whose positions are indicated at H, I2 and each of whom is provided with a damp-box [3, a large press l4, two small presses I5 of the mushroom type, and a rotating multicompartment receptacle l6.

each rotating receptacle I6 is placed between a machine-pressing and a hand-ironing position and suitable bins 19 for holdover orders, a wrapping table 20 and a truck 2|-for finished and packaged orders are placed in positions accessible to the hand-ironer.

Referring now to Figures 2 and 3, the dampbox l3 there shown is supported on legs 22 and is provided with a horizontally hinged lid 23 whichoverhangs aside rail 24 of the damp-box. A block 25 secured to the underside of the 116123 lies flush against the outer surface of the side rail 24 when the lid 23 is in its closed position as shown in Figure 2.

A lever 25, 'pivotally mounted at 21 on the side rail 24 of the damp-box I3, has an arm 28 extending rearwardly beneath the block 25 when the lid 23 is in. its closed position and has an arm 29 projecting forwardly a slight distance beyond the damp-box I3, said arm 29 being upwardly inclined when the lever is in its normal position as shown in Figures 2 and 14 and as is shown in full lines in Figure 3.

Rubber stops 3!], 3| secured to the side'rail 24 limit the turning movement of the lever 26 v in its opposite directions and a stud fastener 32,

securely fixed to the front of the damp-box l3, projects forwardly therefrom above and in proximity to the arm 29 of lever 26.

The receptacle I6 is of the type disclosed in our co-pending application heretofore identified and as here shown comprises a top shelf 33, middle shelf 34, bottom 35, and sides 36, 31, 38, 39, the openings in which give access to compartments 4|], 4|, 42 and 43 respectively, this entire structure being rotatably mounted upon a pedestal 44 in the manner disclosed in our copending application above referred to.

Each compartment 40, 4|, 42 and 43 is provided with a member, here shown as a flexible strap 45 swingably mounted at one side of its compartment to a side of the receptacle as at 46. The free end of each strap member is fitted with a stud fastener 41, best seen in Figure 8, this'stud fastener 41 being similar to'the stud fastener 32 on the damp-box l3. 1

The compartments 4|] and 42 which are on opposite sidesof the receptacle l6, are each provided with a swing member 48 pivotally mounted atf49 on the side of the receptacle opposite the mounting 45 of the strap member 45 for said compartment. Each swing member 48 comprises a latch arm 5& having an aperture 5| therethrough and a hook arm 52 here shown as vertically elongated in cross-Section, each swing member 48 being turnable to present for use one or the other only of its said arms 50 52 In other words, when the latch arm 50 projects forwardly beyond the side of the receptacle on which the swing member 48 is pivotally mounted as shown in dotted linesv in Figure 10, the hook arm 52 is in a position of non-use. Conversely when the hook arm 52 is in its use position shown in full linesin Figure 10, the latch arm 50 is in a position of non-use. Rubber stops 53 secured to the sides of the receptacle limit the turning movement of the swing members 48 in either direction.

The intervening oppositely disposed compartments 4| and 43 of the receptacle 16 are each provided with a swing member 48 pivotally mounted at 49 on the side of the receptacle opposite the mounting 45 of the closure member 45 for said compartment as shown in Figure 12. These swing members 48 are similar to the swing members 48 each swing lever 48 being provided with a latch arm 55 having an aperture 5| therethrough and with a hook arm 52 here 7 shown as horizontally elongated in cross-section,

each swing member 43 being turnable to present for use one or the other only of its arms 50, 52 Rubber stops 53 secured to the sides of the receptacle limit the turning movement of the swing members 48 in either direction.

Four red signal tags 54, like that shown in Figure 5, are provided, one for each of the compartmentsii, 4|, 42 and 43. vEach signal tag 54 is provided with a grommet 55 whose opening 56 is in the form of a snap fastener cooperable with either the stud fastener 32 on the damp-box l3 or with the stud fastener 41 on a strap member45. The strap members 45 are releasably secured in their closing positions seen in Figure 4 by first turning the swing members 48 48 so that their latch arms 50 55 are in their use positions, then passing the stud fasteners 41 on the closure members 45 through the apertures 5| 5 l in said latch arms 50 56 and finally aflixing a signal tag 54 on the end of each stud fastener 41. The signal tags 54 are not adapted for attachment to the hook arms 52 52 of the swing members 48 48 A pair of primaryidentification tags 51 here shown as green in color, are each provided with a grommet 58 having a vertically elongated slot 55 therethrough adapted for detachable engagement with the hook arms 52 of swing members 48 as shown in Figures 10, 11. A pair of secondary identification tags 51 here shown as yellow in color, are each provided with a grommet 58 having a horizontally elongated slot 53 therethrough adapted for detachable engagement with thehook arms 52 of swing levers 48 as shown in Figures 12, 13. V i

The identification tags 51 are not adapted for attachment to the hook arms 52 of swing members 48 and the identification tags '51 are not adapted for attachment to thehook arms 52 of swing members 48 Both sets of identification tags 51 51 are however adapted for attachment to the arm 29 of the lever2'6 on the damp-box |3.

While there are here shown but two each of the green and yellow identification tags 51 51 respectively, it is intended that there be one less identification tag of each color than there are machine-presses available to a machine-press operator. For example, there are three presses l4, |5, |5 available to the machine-press operator H as indicated in Figure 1; hence, that operator is provided with two green identification tags 51 and two yellow identification tags 51 The sides 36, 38 of the receptacle it through which the compartments 40, 42 are accessible, are each provided with spring clips 60 for a purpose hereinafter explained, and each of said sides 36 38 has a green field fil painted thereon in conformity with the green identification tags which are receivable on the members 48 of said compartments 40, 42. Similarly the sides 31, 39 of the receptacle are each provided with spring clips 60 and with a yellow field 6| painted thereon. Spring clips 62, 62 and 62 are secured to the red signal tags 54, green identification tags 51 and yellow identification tags 5'! respectively, said springclips adapting these tags for removable attachment to the articles being finished.

It will be understood that the colors red, green and yellow here indicated for the signal tags 54 and identification tags 51 5'! are illustrative only.

Operation At the beginning of a workingday each machine-press operator has available two green identification tags 51 and two yellow identification tags 51 Each rotating receptacle l6 has all of its strap members 45 secured in closing position by means of red signal tags 54 as shown in Figure4.

The operator selects, for example, the green identification tags 51 for use with the first order, and turns the receptacle I6 to a position in which a green side thereof (e. g. side 36) faces her and the empty compartment 40 is accessible to her.

The operator then places the first order in her damp-box l3, placing the yellow identification tags 5! on the net containing the next order in the incoming truck it). She then selects from the damp-box l3 the first article to be pressed, attaches a green identification tag 57 to the article and places the article in a machine-press. While doing this, there is only one suitable place where she may hang the second green identification tag 51 this being on the arm 29 of lever 26 on the damp-box [3, the cover of the damp-box being closed in order to so hang the second tag 51 on the lever 26.

When the operator has finished placing the first article in a machine press, she returns to the damp-box I3, takes the second green identification tag 5'! off the lever 26 which she must do before opening the damp-box otherwise the weight of this tag 51 will turn the lever 26 causing this tag 51 to fall to the floor.

The damp-box I3 is then opened by the operator who selects a second article for pressing and who attaches the second green identification tag 51 to said second article, placing this article in a machine-press. After selecting a third article and placing the same in the third machine-press, the presses all remain full except for exchanging articles therein throughout the working day thus increasing efliciency of the finishing unit.

Upon removing the first article of the order from the press, the operator removes the red signal tag 54 from the compartment 40 thus releasing the strap member 45 of said compartment 40. The operator then places a laundry container 63 in the compartment and the finished first article in the container, next turns the swing member 48 of said compartment, then hangs the green identification tag 51 from the first article on the hook arm 52 of said swing member 48 and finally hangs the red signal tag 54 on the stud fastener 32 on the dampbox l3, all as best seen in Figures 9, 10, 11 and 14. Since the red signal tag 54 now conceals the arm 29 of lever 26 on the damp-box, none of the identification tags may inadvertently be placed on said arm 29 as long as the signal tag 54 is on the damp-box.

The operator next removes the second article from the press, places it in the finished laundry container 63 and removes the second green identification tag 51 therefrom, hanging said tag on the hook arm 52 of member 48 over the first green tag as shown in Figures 10 and 11. The operator next removes the remaining articles of the first order from the damp-box one by one, machine-pressing those articles which are suitable for machine-pressing, placing the pressed articles in the laundry container 63. When the last article in the damp-box I3 is withdrawn, the operator removes the red signal tag therefrom, attaches the same to saidlast article and places the article in a machine-press. Those articles in the damp-box which require hand-ironing are suspended from the spring clips 60 associated with the compartment 40. l l

The operator then takes up the next customer order, attaching the yellow identification tags 51 to the first two articles in said secondorder in a manner similar to that followed when attaching the green identification tags. It will thus be seen that in proceeding forthwith from-the first order to the second order, all of the presses are kept busy, yet there is no danger of mixing the several orders sincethe absence of anytag or the presence of the red signal tag on the last article of thefirst order distinguishes those articles from the first two articles'of the succeeding order which bear yellow identification tags.

When the operator removes the last article of the first order from the press, she removes the red signal tag 54 therefrom, then places the article in the laundry container and finally closes out the order by attaching the strap member 45 to the latch arm 50 of the swing member48 by means of the red signal tag, at which time she must remove the green identification tags 51 from the hook arm 52 of lever 48 or these tags 51 will drop to the floor when the lever 48 is turned. Said green identification tags 51 are then placed on the net in the incoming truck holding the third order, for future use in placing the third order in the compartment 42 opposite the compartment 40.

It will be noted that the operator must rot-ate the receptacle It to make available to her a compartment whose hook arm 52 is adapted to receive the yellow identification tags 5'! of the second order, thus making it impossible for her to place two orders in the same compartment.

When the rotating receptacle I6 is turned to present the compartment 40 to the hand-ironer, the handoperator detaches the strap member 45 of the compartment 40, irons the articles attached to the spring clips 60 and places them in the container. This container is then removed and placed on the truck 2| carrying completed outgoing orders,

It is the dutyof the machine-presser to rotate the receptacle l6 when she requires an empty compartment. Such rotation might take place before the hand-ironer has finished'the order she is Working on, but it will be seen that the detached position of the strap member 45 on the compartment 40 indicates to the hand-ironer which order and which compartment she is'worke ing on regardless of the moved position of the receptacle l6. v

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides a convenient method and simple and inexpensive devices for segregating individual orders during the finishing and packaging operations. The method herein shown and described speeds up production and minimizes handling of the finished. articles since the articles are transferred-directly from the presses to the laundry container 1 l While butone specific embodiment of the invention has been herein shown and described, it will be understood that certain steps in the performance of the method may be rearranged or omitted and that equivalent devices may be substituted for the devices shown without departing from the spirit of the invention as the same is defined-by the following claims.

We-claim: 1. A rotatable receptacle having a plurality of compartments therein each accessible from a different side of the receptacle, a hook arm secured to each compartment, and having adifferent formation from the hook arms of the adjacent compartments, each hook arm being thus adapted to detachably retain an identification tag of a different formation and characteristic from the identification tags detachably retainable on the hook'arms of the adjacent compartments.

2. A rotatable receptacle having a plurality of compartments therein each accessible from a different side of the receptacle, a strap member swingably secured to each compartment at one side thereof, a swing member pivotally mounted on ,the opposite side of each compartment, each swing member having a latch arm and a hook arm and each swing member being turnable to present for use one or the other only of said arms, the latch arm of each swing member being adapted to detachably receivethe free end of.

a strap member and the hook arm of each swing member being adapted-to detachably retain an identification tag of a character different from the identification tags detachably retainable on the hook arms of the adjacent compartments;

. 3. A rotatable receptacle having a plurality of compartments therein each accessible from a different side of the receptacle, a strap member swingably secured to each compartment at one side thereof and provided at its free end with fastening means, a latch arm mounted on the opposite side of each compartment and adapted to receive the. free end of a strap member which maybe detachably secured thereto by means of a'signal tag having fastening means thereon cooperable with the fastening means on said strap member.

4. A rotatable receptacle having a plurality of compartments therein each accessible from a different side of the receptacle, a strap member swingably secured to each compartment at one side thereof and provided at its free end with fastening means, a swing member pivotally mounted on the opposite side of each compartvment, each swing member having a latch arm and a hook arm and each swing member being turnable to present for use one or the other only of said arms, the latch arm of each swing member being adapted to receive the free end of a strap member which may be detachably secured thereto by means of a signal tag having fasten- 7 .ing means thereon cooperable with the fastencured thereto by means of a signal tag having fastening means thereon cooperable with the fastening means on said strap member, and the hook arm of each swing member having a different formation from the hook arms of the adjacent compartments, each hook arm being thus adapted to detachably retain an identification tag of a different formation and character'- istic' from the identification tags detachably retainable on the hook arms of the adjacent compartments and of a different formation and char acteristic from said signal tag.

6-. A rotatable receptacle having a plurality of compartments therein each accessible from a different. side of thereceptacle, a strap member swingably secured to each compartment at one side thereof and provided at its free end with fastening means, a swing member pivotally mounted on the oppositeside of each comparte ment, each swing member having a latch arm and a hook'arm and each swing member. being turnable to. present for use one or the other only of said arms, the latch arm of each swing member being adapted to receive the free end of a strap member which may be detachably secured thereto by means of a signal tag having fastening means thereon cooperable with the fastening. means on said strap member, and the hook arm of each swing member being adapted to detachably retain an identification tag of 'a different color from the identification tags detachably retainable on the hook arms of the adjacent compartments, the sides of the receptacle being colored to correspond to the identification tags which may be associated with the compartments accessible therethrough, and the signal tag being of a third color.

7. A rotatable receptacle having a compartmenttherein, a strap member swingably secured to the compartment at one side thereof, a swing member pivotally mounted on the opposite side of the compartment having a latch arm and a hook arm turnable to present for use one orthe other of said arms, the latch arm being adapted to detachably receive the free end of the strap member and the hook arm being adapted to detachably retain an identification tag. a

8. A rotatable receptacle having a compartment therein, a strap member swingably secured to the compartment at one side thereof and provided at its free end with fastening means, a swing member pivotally mounted on the opposite side of the compartment having a latch arm and a hook arm turnable to present for use one or the other of said arms, the latch arm being adapted to detachably receive the free end of the strap member which may be detachably secured thereto by means of a signal tag'having fastening means thereon cooperable with the fastening means on the strap member, the hook arm being 1adaptedto detachably retain an identification ag. a

- HOWARD F. BAX'IER.

ROBERT T. BAXTER. 

